Turkish Naval Forces

Turkish Naval Forces Türk Deniz Kuvvetleri
Seal of the Turkish Navy ()
Active	1081 – present (935–936) years
Country	Turkey
Type	Navy
Role	Naval warfare
Size	48,600 personnel 51 aircraft
Part of	Turkish Armed Forces
Headquarters	Ankara
Motto(s)	"Always Ready"
Colors	Blue, White & Gold
March	Turkish Navy March  Play
Anniversaries	September 27
Website	dzkk.tsk.tr/
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Minister of National Defence	Minister Fikri Işık
Chief of the General Staff	General Hulusi Akar
Commander	Admiral Bülent Bostanoğlu
Chief of Staff	Vice Admiral Serdar Dülger
Insignia
Flag of Turkish Naval Forces Command
Naval Aviation Roundel
Masthead Pennant

The Turkish Naval Forces (Turkish: Türk Deniz Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Navy (Turkish: Türk Donanması) is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.

The navy can trace its lineage back to the first Turkish fleets to sail the Aegean in the late 11th century, the fleets of the Anatolian beyliks in the 14th century, and, more immediately, to the Ottoman Navy. However, the modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the Directorate of Naval Affairs during the Turkish War of Independence led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Since July 1949, the service has been officially known as the Turkish Naval Forces.

In 2008, the Turkish Navy had a reported active personnel strength of 48,600; this figure included an Amphibious Marines Brigade as well as several Special Forces and Commando detachments. As of early 2015, the navy operates a wide variety of ships and 51 maritime aircraft.

Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be struck on all warships lying in the Golden Horn and the Ottoman Navy ceased to exist. The major surface combatants of the former Ottoman fleet (totalling 62,000 tons) were rendered inactive by the Allies and in accordance with the terms of the Armistice of Mudros, the warships were disarmed during the last week of 1918. The battleship Turgut Reis and the cruisers Hamidiye and Mecidiye were substantially limited and kept inactive inside the Golden Horn by the occupying forces. Due to its larger size, the battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan Selim was transferred to the Gulf of Izmit on the grounds that she could adversely affect the sea traffic inside the Golden Horn; while her ammunition and guns were removed. During this period, only a small number of Ottoman Navy vessels were allowed by the Allies to remain on active coast guard duties and were released from internment on 26 February 1919; such as the torpedo boats Akhisar and Dıraç which patrolled the Sea of Marmara, the gunboat Hızır Reis which patrolled the Gulf of İzmir, and the minelayers Nusret and Tir-i Müjgan which conducted mine cleaning operations in the Gulf of Saros.